Business-like approach bears fruit for St Vincent de Paul

Business-like approach bears fruit for St Vincent de Paul in Hamilton

Monday, March 5th, 2018

When Mike Rolton arrived at St Vincent de Paul in Hamilton, revenue was about $180,000. And there were about 40 volunteers.

It is now a $1 million non-profit business. There are seven paid staff and more than 260 volunteers.

The former Fletcher Challenge and Waikato-Tainui fisheries manager agreed to help out the St Vincent de Paul Society in Hamilton because he thought the job wouldn’t take long.

Seven years later, Rolton is still there, managing a rebranded “Vinnies”.

Vinnies depends on volunteers, but Rolton runs it strictly along business lines, with sales targets for its five op shops, annual business plans and a strategic plan for the future.

Around 75 percent of Vinnies’ income comes from its shops. They have to raise the rest.

When he first came, the St Vincent de Paul Society had two shops. It lacked momentum and volunteers, and different activity areas didn’t talk to each other, Rolton said.

Today, shop managers are expected to meet sales targets and must manage their volunteer staff.

With Hamilton growing fast, Rolton and his team have made a strategic plan to deal with the associated rise in demand for its services.

The strategic plan calls for a sixth op shop to be opened.

A good deal of Rolton’s time is spent talking to community groups and sectors about Vinnies’ work and support needs.

Local businessman Tony Egan is one of the people whose business supports St Vincent de Paul.

He says he has noticed an upturn in corporate philanthropy and attributes it to commerce maturing, in Hamilton city in particular.

“We all know each other, particularly at a business level, so there’s a lot of common understanding.

“When you see (benefactor) families like the Perrys and Gallaghers, you ask yourself the question should we be doing the same sort of thing?”.

Egan is managing director of Greenlea Premier Meats which through its Greenlea Foundation this financial year gave $750,000 to individuals and needy organisations in the greater region.

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